Various surgical procedures are routinely carried out intravascularly or intraluminally. For example, in the treatment of vascular disease, such as arteriosclerosis, it is a common practice to access the artery and insert an instrument (e.g., a balloon or other type of catheter) to carry out a procedure within the artery. Such procedures usually involve the percutaneous puncture of the artery so that an insertion sheath may be placed in the artery and thereafter instruments (e.g., catheters) may pass through the sheath to an operative position within the artery. Intravascular and intraluminal procedures unavoidably present the problem of stopping the bleeding at the percutaneous puncture after the procedure has been completed and after the instruments (and any insertion sheaths used therewith) have been removed. Bleeding from puncture sites, particularly in the case of femoral arterial punctures, is typically stopped by utilizing vascular closure devices.
While there are a variety of prior art devices and techniques for closing such punctures, one aspect of interest in the ability to access the puncture prior to closing the puncture. An insertion sheath is commonly inserted into the puncture to create an access port for the closure device used to close the puncture. A dilator is often used with the sheath to dilate or enlarge the puncture at the time of inserting the sheath. The dilator typically extends distal of a distal end of the sheath. The maximum size (e.g., diameter) of the sheath may be greater than the size of the puncture, which presents a challenge to avoid damaging the tissue surrounding the puncture when inserting the sheath.